How to Clone the patent-disclosure-skill Repository for Cursor: Complete Setup Guide

Clone the patent-disclosure-skill repository into ~/.cursor/skills/ for global access or .cursor/skills/ for project-local use, then restart Cursor to auto-discover the skill via the SKILL.md entry point.

The handsomestWei/patent-disclosure-skill repository implements the Agent Skills protocol that Cursor recognizes automatically when placed in the correct directory structure. This guide shows you exactly how to clone the patent-disclosure-skill repository for Cursor and verify it registers properly, covering both global and project-local installation patterns.

Understanding Cursor Skill Discovery

Cursor scans specific directory conventions to discover skills. According to the repository's INSTALL.md, the location determines whether the skill is available globally or restricted to a single workspace.

Global vs Project-Local Installation

• Global scope: Place the repository in ~/.cursor/skills/patent-disclosure-skill/. Cursor scans this path on startup and registers any folder containing a top-level SKILL.md.
• Project-local scope: Place it in <project-root>/.cursor/skills/patent-disclosure-skill/. Cursor treats any SKILL.md inside a .cursor/skills/ subfolder as a workspace-specific skill when you open that folder.
• Direct open: Open the repository root itself as the workspace, provided the environment variable CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR points to that directory.

Cloning the Repository

Choose your installation scope based on whether you need the skill available across all projects or just one workspace.

Global Installation (Linux/macOS)

Create the skills directory and clone directly into the target location:

mkdir -p ~/.cursor/skills
git clone https://github.com/handsomestWei/patent-disclosure-skill.git ~/.cursor/skills/patent-disclosure-skill

Global Installation (Windows PowerShell)

Use the $env:USERPROFILE variable to ensure the correct home directory:

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.cursor\skills"
git clone https://github.com/handsomestWei/patent-disclosure-skill.git "$env:USERPROFILE\.cursor\skills\patent-disclosure-skill"

Project-Local Installation

For workspace-specific use, clone into the current project's .cursor directory:

mkdir -p .cursor/skills
git clone https://github.com/handsomestWei/patent-disclosure-skill.git .cursor/skills/patent-disclosure-skill

After cloning into any location, restart Cursor or reload the workspace window. The skill appears under the Skills panel and becomes invokable via the / command menu (e.g., /patent-disclosure-skill).

Verifying the Installation

Confirm Cursor successfully registered the skill by checking the settings:

1. Open Settings → Rules in Cursor.
2. Look for patent-disclosure-skill under Detected skills.
3. If present, the routing logic in SKILL.md is active and the skill is ready for use.

Repository Architecture Overview

Understanding the file structure helps you navigate the skill's capabilities after installation. The repository divides into three logical layers:

SKILL.md Entry Point

The SKILL.md file at the repository root serves as the minimal router. It declares the skill name, version, and entry points that Cursor uses to map user commands to prompt files.

Prompts Directory Structure

The prompts/ folder contains human-readable instruction sets organized by workflow:

• prompts/disclosure/ – Invention disclosure intake and prior art search flows.
• prompts/reader/ – Plain-language patent reading modes.
• prompts/evolution/ – Policy sniffing and skill evolution workflows.
• prompts/oa/ – Office Action assistance prompts.

For example, prompts/disclosure/intake.md defines the first step for gathering project context and determining patent type.

Tools and Utilities

The tools/ directory implements the heavy lifting through Python scripts:

• tools/shared/browser.py – Playwright wrapper for headless Chrome/Edge operations.
• tools/shared/mermaid_render.py – Generates PNG/SVG from Mermaid diagrams.
• tools/patent_reader/extract/fetch_patent_pdf.py – Downloads or reads patent PDFs and extracts raw pages.
• tools/crawl/cnipa_epub_search.py – Performs CNIPA EPUB prior-art searches.
• tools/oa/ingest_case.py and tools/oa/search_cases.py – Handle Office Action case ingestion and vector-based similarity search.

Practical Usage Examples

Once you clone the patent-disclosure-skill repository for Cursor, you can invoke workflows through the UI or command line.

Running Disclosure Workflows

Navigate to the skill directory and install dependencies:

cd ~/.cursor/skills/patent-disclosure-skill
pip install -r requirements.txt

Verify the browser automation layer:

python tools/shared/browser.py --probe

# Expected output: ok=true

Trigger the invention disclosure intake via the Cursor command palette (Ctrl+Space), type /patent-disclosure-skill, and select the disclosure workflow. Cursor executes the prompts in prompts/disclosure/ sequentially, including the prior-art search step that invokes tools/crawl/cnipa_epub_search.py.

Patent PDF Extraction

To extract a patent and import it into Obsidian:

export PATENT_READER_OBSIDIAN_VAULT="$HOME/ObsidianVault"
python tools/patent_reader/extract/fetch_patent_pdf.py \
  --pub CN1234567A \
  -o tmp/patent_reader/RUN

python tools/patent_reader/vault/write_patent_obsidian_note.py \
  --input tmp/patent_reader/RUN \
  --vault "$PATENT_READER_OBSIDIAN_VAULT"

Summary

• Clone into ~/.cursor/skills/ for global availability or .cursor/skills/ for project-local use.
• Restart Cursor after cloning to trigger automatic discovery via SKILL.md.
• Verify registration in Settings → Rules under Detected skills.
• The repository structure splits into SKILL.md (router), prompts/ (workflows), and tools/ (Python automation).
• Key utilities include browser.py for web automation and fetch_patent_pdf.py for document extraction.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does Cursor look for skills?

Cursor scans ~/.cursor/skills/ for global skills and <workspace>/.cursor/skills/ for project-local skills. It recognizes any directory containing a SKILL.md file at its root.

Can I use this skill on Windows?

Yes. Use the PowerShell commands provided in the repository's INSTALL.md to create the directory structure under $env:USERPROFILE\.cursor\skills\ and clone the repository there.

What is the purpose of the SKILL.md file?

SKILL.md acts as the entry point that Cursor reads to register the skill. It declares the skill name, version, and routing logic that maps slash commands (like /patent-disclosure-skill) to specific prompt files in the prompts/ directory.

How do I trigger the patent reader functionality?

After cloning, set the PATENT_READER_OBSIDIAN_VAULT environment variable to your vault path, then run python tools/patent_reader/extract/fetch_patent_pdf.py with the publication number. Alternatively, invoke it through Cursor's UI by typing /patent-disclosure-skill and selecting the reader mode.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}